Sectional flooring, decks, and racks



0. F. ARTHUR SECTIONAL FLOORING, DECKS AND RACKS 2 Sheets$heet 1 FiledApril 11, 1947 INVENTOR. Oscme FI ARTHUR.

ATTORNEY.

Aug. 21, 1951 O, F, ARTHUR 2,565,292

SECTIONAL. FLOORING, DECKS AND RACKS Filed April 11, 1947 2 SheetsSheet2 g] wv urn (M 0504/? FT (4277/02 Patented Aug. 21, 1951 UNITED STATESPATENT. OFFICE 2,565,292 SECTIONAL FLOORING, DECKS, AND RACKS Oscar F.Arthur, Connellsville, Pa., assignor' to Tri-State Engineering Company,Washington, Pa., a corporation of Maryland Application April 11, 1947';Serial No. 740,777

4 Claims.

This invention relates to auxiliary flooring or floor racks that areparticularly adapted for use in railway refrigerator" cars, and carfloors that frequently become wet through condensation of water vapor orfrom other causes. Heretofore, it has been common practice to use floorracks formed of wood slats nailed to heavy wood sills. The, racks serveto support the car lading out of engagement with the damp floor, andalso permit circulation of air within the car body and beneath the goodscontained therein. From time to time, the racks will be raised to permitthe cleaning of the main floor surfaces.

The floor racks as heretofore employed have not been entirelysatisfactory because the wood is subject to deterioration by dampnessand absorbs odors. Also, the slatted form of the rack surface is notsuitable for travel thereover of hand trucks that are used in loadingand unloading the cars. The truck wheels when traveling nearly parallelto the slats sometimes catch on the edges of the slats and are deflectedthereby from the direction in which the trucker desires to travel. Also,there is splintering and chipping away of the corners of the slats bythe truck wheels.

While I herein show and describe my invention as used more particularlyas auxiliary flooring for railway cars, it is useful also for variousother purposes, as in slaughter houses, factories, to provide drainagefor slops, for ventilation, and to serve as a non-slip surface. Also,for sidewalk gratings, temporary walks, as shelves, etc.

My invention has for its object the provision of a floor rack orauxiliary flooring of such form that it can conveniently be formed oflight weight metal parts and which will still have adequate strength forits purpose, will also permit of better circulation of air than thewooden racks, and upon which trucks of either the hand-lift or poweredtype can be moved more freely than in the case of racks of the wood-slattype.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a schematic plan view showingthe arrangement of floor racks in a car body; Fig. 2 is an enlargedcross sectional view through a car body showing one of the floor racksof Fig. 1 raised to inoperative position; Fig. 3 is an enlargedfragmentary perspective view of one of the floor racks; Fig. 4 is anenlarged sectional plan view of one of the floor racks of Fig. 1; Fig. 5is a longitudinal edge view of the structure of Fig. 5, and Fig. 6 is anend view thereof.

Only so much of a car body I5 is shown as is necessary to anunderstanding of my invention.

In the present instance, a refrigerator car is indicated having theusual icing or refrigerating compartments [6. The usual floor ll of thecar body has placed thereon my auxiliary flooring or floor racks [8arranged in two rows as shown in Fig. l and each of which is connectedto the adjacent side wall of the'car by a pair of hinges l9 that areshown more clearly in Figs. 4 and 5', so that the panels or racks canbeswung. to vertical positions against the car sides to permit cleaningof the car floor or when it is desired to place the lading directly onthe car floor l1. Swivel hooks 20 may be provided for releasably holdingthe floor panels IS in their raised positions. By reason of the treadsurface structure of the racks to be hereinafter explained, wheeledtrucks can be moved along the racks [8 to place goods in the car and toremove the goods from the car, the car being provided with the usualside doors at 22.

Each floor rack panel l8 has a tread surface that may suitably be in theform of a sheet of expanded metal 24 (Fig. 4) that has been rolled toflatten the same, to eliminate the usual sharp corners and edges foundon newly manufactured expanded metal. The deck or tread surface sheets24 are welded to a deck sheet support of 0 gauge longitudinal wires 25and transverse wires 26 that are welded together. The underframing orbase for the deck sheet 24 may suitably also be made mainly of 0 gaugewires or rods and comprises pairs of floor rods 21 that are bentupwardly at their ends 28 and welded to the decksupporting wires.

Groups of U-shaped legs 29 are welded at their mid portions to the topsurfaces of the floor rods 21 and at their upper ends to certain of thewires 25 and wires 25a, these groups of legs being dlstributed atappropriate intervals throughout the undersurface of the deck. Tie rods3| are welded to the floor rods 21 and extend the full width of thepanel. Similarly, tie rods 32 extend crosswise of the panel and arewelded to the undersides of wires 25 and reinforcing wires 25a (Figs. 3and 6). To give greater floor-bearing area, and to further stiffen andbrace the legs 29, sheet metal plates 33 (Fig. 2) are welded to the topsof the floor rods 27, but are deflected to the lower plane thereof asshown more clearly in Fig. 2, so that they will rest upon the car floorll.

Sheet metal strips 34 are welded to the edges of the expanded metalsheets 24, so as to eliminate ragged ends of expanded metal and tofacilitate movement of truck wheels on to the expanded metal sheet.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a floor rack having a reticulated metal deck sheet that serves asa tread surface, a deck sheet support of welded wire mesh form uponwhich the deck sheet is mounted, rod-like leg elements for supportingthe deck sheet support, floor-engaging bars secured to the lower ends ofthe leg elements, and tie members disposed transversely of the bars andsecured thereto, the reticulated sheet being of expanded metal and thedeck sheet support being in the form of wires welded inrelatively-crossed relation to form rectangular openings that are ofgreater width than the openings through the tread surface.

2. In a floor rack for railway cars, a reticulated deck sheet, a decksheet support of wires welded together in crossed relation, leg membersin the form of rods bent to approximately U- shape and having theirupper ends welded to the deck sheet support, floor rods welded to thelower ends of the legs and extending perpendicularly to the planesthereof, and tie members welded to the floor rods and extendingtransversely thereof.

3. In a floor rack for railway cars, a reticulated deck sheet, a decksheet support of wires welded together in crossed relation, leg membersof rodlike form Welded at their upper ends to the deck sheet support,tie rods welded, some to the under surface of the deck and some to thelegs, floor rods welded to the lower ends of the legs, and tie 4 memberswelded to the floor rods and extending transversely thereof.

4. In a floor rack for railway cars, a reticulated deck sheet, a decksheet support of wires welded together in crossed relation, leg membersof rodlike form welded at their upper ends to the deck sheet support,tie rods, some welded to the under surface of the deck and some to thelegs, floor rods welded to the lower ends of the legs, and floorengaging strips of sheet metal extending transversely of the fioor rodsand welded thereto, the major portion of each strip occupying the sameplane as the floor rods.

OSCAR F. ARTHUR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 451,682 Hicks May 5, 1891 680,943Sharp Aug. 20, 1901 993,798 Schuster May 30, 1911 1,017,028 VVilhelmiFeb. 13, 1912 1,370,362 Redding Mar, 1, 1921 2,214,547 Bonsall Sept. 10,1940 2,278,354 Johnston Mar. 31, 1942 2,291,472 Johnston July 28, 1942

